Nightmares for Christmas
by noxsoulmate
Summary: Christmas time during the War in which Draco and Hermione will find peace in their own way - Christmas Oneshot - AU - Friendship with a little bit of Romance


**Nightmares for Christmas**

Christmas Oneshot

* * *

><p>It was around three o'clock in the morning and Number 12 Grimmauld Place was as silent as a winter's night should be. With only three days left till Christmas the place was already packed with the normal suspects but even the twins were fast asleep at this time in the morning.<p>

One person, however, was just creeping down the stairs, trying to be silent as a ghost so to not wake the house. He wasn't used to so much noise and even though he kind of liked it (which he would never admit to anyone, mind you) some silence now and then was good for his nerves.

Although he enjoyed the silence, it wasn't as if he was awake to relish it now. No, Draco Malfoy was on his way to the kitchen to get himself a cup of hot chocolate. Those damn nightmares, waking him up and keeping him awake… but he refused to take any Sleeping Draught. He couldn't think straight the next day each time he had tried it, because his brain seemed to be clouded. He was sure he should tell Lupin, or at least Snape. Truth was he still didn't really trust them. Well, it wasn't as if they trusted him fully already, so the feeling was very mutual. He wouldn't tell them a weakness after only a few months. Maybe in a few more weeks he might.

Draco came to a sudden halt when he saw an orange shimmer flickering and dancing under the door of one of the rooms beside the staircase. It was one of the drawing rooms which were used as living rooms now; this particular one with a fireplace, if he remembered correctly. He took the last few steps and went to the door in question to listen. No sound came out. He thought about it for a second, then cracked open the door a bit, just far enough to look inside. But the only thing he could see was a bundle of blankets on a couch which had been pulled right up in front of the fire opposite of the door. At first, nothing seemed unusual, till at last he realised that the blankets were shivering. Before he could react to this revelation, the blankets moved completely and a wild mane of honey brown tresses came into his view, illuminated by the fire so that they themselves seemed to burn.

Even though she had sat up, Hermione didn't seem to have taken any note of his presence. She just kept looking into the fire and after a short while, Draco finally grasped that it was her trembling body that caused the blankets to shiver so violently. He gulped heavily. A crying Hermione – well, to be honest, a crying girl at all – was out of his comfort zone… as far as he had one in this house. He tried to close the door quietly, but of course, _of course_, that damn house had to be against him and one of the floor boards he had shifted his weight on had to creak. Hermione's head turned around and her gaze held his before he could close the door completely. Feeling kind of caught while spying on her he felt the need to explain himself. Salazar help him, was he turning soft? He opened the door again just enough so she could see it was really him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude –"

"'S o-o-okay…," Hermione answered and finally Draco realised that her teeth were chattering violently, while her eyes were perfectly try and not even red – well, maybe a little bit. It hit him like a lightning: She wasn't crying, she was freezing.

Taking an unconscious step towards her, his forehead already creased in a questioning frown, he asked her the really stupid question: "Are you alright?" _Yeah, Draco, of course she is alright, because everybody who feels _alright_ sits in a headed room at 3 am with chattering teeth, trembling all over – because it's so much fun!_

Her ironic laugh, which sounded really strange between her chattering teeth, showed him that she was thinking something along his own sarcastic lines but she couldn't force out anything more; a sudden surge through her body made her shake more violently for two or three heartbeats, before it settled back down to the 'normal' trembling. In a surreal way, it reminded Draco of a dog shaking water out of his fur. Or a possessed person…

"Merlin, Granger, what the hell? I'll get Lupin –"

"No… no, don't… I'm f-f-fine."

"Yeah, and Potter is my best friend."

She let out a strangled laugh again, this time sounding more amused, before she tried to control her body long enough to speak again. "'S nothing… jus' f-freezin'."

He looked at her for a long second, one hand still on the doorknob, debating whether this was the excuse of a possessed person or if he could trust her to be a normal, freezing Hermione. Because one thing about this explanation was really odd.

"You do know you're sitting in front of a blazing fire with a whole lot of spare blankets around yourself?"

"No sh-sh-shit? Do I?"

Her remark was cynical enough to make him realise that it truly was the normal Hermione he knew, or rather the one he had been getting to know over the last few weeks of living together. Hermione had mastered the divine art of sarcasm and it had become Draco's favourite pastime during these past few months to have witty discussions with her all day long – much to the annoyance of her two sidekicks, but that made it even better, now didn't it? If she wasn't possessed, however, then she might be seriously injured. This shivering wasn't normal.

"Then why are you freezing so badly? Shouldn't I get Lupin, or Mrs. Weasley, or –"

"… S-said it's fine," she pressed out in one go, her teeth only chattering more violently afterwards.

"Shit, Granger…"

At a loss at what to do, Draco finally closed the door behind him and took a few steps closer to Hermione. Not knowing what to say, he just stood there and looked at her. This close, right beside her actually, he could see her eyes being all glassy and frantic looking. They were a little bit red and puffy, but not from crying, he was sure of that. And despite the warm fire right in front of her, her normally rosy and shiny face looked unhealthy pale, almost like a ghost. Within the last seconds that he had observed her, her eyelids had closed five times as if too heavy to keep them open, only to snap open again as though they were forced to stay that way.

"You are tired?!"

Her glassy eyes snapped back towards him as if she had already forgotten he was there. Her lips – Merlin, they were as white as marble – trembled before she tried to smile and gave a small nod.

"Then sleep!?"

Her eyes wandered back to the fire. Draco could see her rocking back and forth a little bit to keep warm due to the motion. "A-and y-y-you?"

At first, he didn't understand – hell, it was three in the morning, his brain wasn't the fastest at this time – but then it hit him again: nightmares. He gulped and sat down next to her. The heat of the room made him a little dizzy and he could feel the tiredness creep back into him. He had to take care of this crazy witch and it had to be fast, otherwise he would fall asleep right here. After all, it was quite cosy with the fire and all…

"What about a Sleeping Draught?"

She shook her head, still rooking back and forth, blankets tightly around her body. She looked like a crazy bundle of linen. "C-c-can't… my b-body re-rejects…"

He frowned deeply at her. That was new to him. He had known there were some side effects, such as his dizziness. But that a body totally rejected the Draught? Her stuttered answer came as soon as she could control the shaking enough. "T-too much… t-too often…"

Even that one Draco had never heard of, but then again: the Sleeping Draught had become something like the Order's Goodnight Kiss. Living and fighting in a war for almost a year and a half so far had its effects on everyone, especially the younger ones. So Lupin and Snape had come to the conclusion that a nightmare-free sleep was the least that could be done for everyone. And the better they had rest the better they would be able to fight. Most of the times, at least. Obviously, they hadn't considered side effects such like Hermione's.

"I see," he finally managed to say, looking at her with worried eyes. It wasn't as if he really _cared_ for her, Salazar forbid. But… well, they _were_ on the same side now, right? And there was always this little bickering he enjoyed so much. And then… she really looked helpless and pitiful right now. Not in a weak way he would normally sneer about; more in an adorable and tough way, with her forcing herself to stay awake and all.

"So, how long has it been since you last slept?" He just couldn't help asking.

"W-what's time?" she forced out and Draco would have smiled about her lack of grammatical correctness if he hadn't been so worried.

"Three in the morning," he replied instead, hoping for some reason that she had woken only a few hours ago but otherwise had at least slept for some time this night.

Hermione didn't answer right away, as if she was thinking. Or was she counting hours? Just when Draco wanted to ask again, she suddenly answered: "F-forty-f-five hours –"

"_What_…?" He broke off, at a loss for words. She had been awake for nearly two days now? She hadn't slept at all last night? Was she mad? Just as he wanted to ask her that very question, another jolt of uncontrollable shudders surged through her body and he automatically reached for her shoulders to support her. He could feel her lean into him and he let her.

"Merlin, Granger, this is insane, you need to sleep! You are sleep-deprived and it's making you sick!"

He could feel her shaking her head again. "No… I don't… don't wanna see..."

"I know," he assured her, calming her down with his soothing voice. "I know exactly what you mean." And without really thinking about it, he smoothed some of her tresses away from her face so they wouldn't tickle him or her as soon as her head would rest on his shoulder, which it did soon after.

"You're warm," she breathed out between her shudders and Draco had the feeling that her body started to relax a little bit. Obviously, body heat was doing what a billion blankets and a cosy fire couldn't do.

"Nice to know I'm of help." In his head, it had sounded like an ironic and teasing remark but what came out of his mouth was a warm and sympathetic whisper. And he could feel rather than see her lips curl into a smirk.

"Nice to kn-kn-know… you like to h-help me."

Another hard wave of shudders surged through her and Draco wound his arms around her shoulders, pulling her tightly to his chest until she had control about her body again.

"Okay, Granger, I'm serious: this is insane! You _have_ to sleep!"

"M-m-maybe-e… but it's rather… un-uncomfortable right n-n-now."

Sure, leave it to Hermione Granger to press out a word like _uncomfortable_ through chattering teeth and, moreover, to complain while he tried to help her.

_Merlin, give me patience fast!_ Draco thought but rather quickly he understood what she had been talking about. So instead of a snide reply he tried to entangle her from a few of the blankets so that she could actually lie down on his shoulder without a wall of covers holding her at a strange angle. She seemed to notice and let him do it. He managed to remove all of them, except for one blanket that was wound so tightly around her body it seemed like a second skin. He left that one and while he could feel her rest her head on his shoulder again, he pulled another blanket over her to cover her lightly without strangling her as it did before. The rest of them (three more, it seemed) he tried to get rid of but since Hermione had left him little room to move at all – what with her head on his shoulder now – one stayed where it was at her feet, snuggled up on the other end of the couch, and the other two on his side, serving as a pillow for him.

When he was done he realised that her shaking had calmed down even more, her teeth-chattering had died almost completely and, most importantly: her arm was resting around his waist. He looked down at her, his hands and arms still hanging somewhere mid-air, unsure what to do and where to put them with a girl clinging to him. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to relax into him. Before he could stop himself, a smile tugged on his lips and one of his hands wandered back to her hair. Gently, he stroked one of her tresses out of her eyes and pulled it behind her ear, lightly caressing her soft cheek. His hand lingered in her hair while he repositioned himself slightly to have it more comfortable. He might as well stay a little while to make sure that she slept alright…

When he was done, Hermione stirred a little. Her head crept slowly from his shoulder to his chest, her hand coming up from his waist to grip the front of his shirt flimsily just next to her own head, which moved one, two more times, before she let out a satisfied breath. He kept his hands a little on top of her to give her room while she nestled into his chest and by now he fully smiled; she seemed to mistake him for her pillow. But before he could do anything else, he heard her whisper one last time.

"You smell good."

He was sure that he had either misheard her or that she was just too far beyond everything. So much for 'uncomfortable' and her pig-headed decision to stay awake.

Still smiling, he finally put his arm around her to pull her a little closer, his other hand resting on her hand still gripping his shirt. His last coherent thought that night was that he liked her faint fragrance of honey and apples...

* * *

><p>Merry Christmas to all of you :)<p> 


End file.
